Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Make Your Own Decorative Brads

I was out on the hunt for brads the other day and was a little shocked at the selection, in a good way. There's all kinds of styles ranging from faux screws to clouds to rhinestones! I must have stood there for a good ten minutes just to soak it all in. Then I did the next logical thing, bought a whole bunch of them. After I got home, it occurred to me that I could make my own. So I did a little experimenting and here's what I came up with:

Supplies: Brads, E600 glue, Embellishments

Glue embellishment to top of brad. Let dry over night. Done!

I can see these being used for wedding and party favors. There's so many possibilities with this.




Some of the embellishments I used were, fabric buttons, buttons, and dresden trims.

What else do you think would be good to use?
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19 comments:

  1. Linda WescottFebruary 16, 2011 at 10:42 AM

    Fantastic idea which will be seen used on my blog soon lol. Something I do with plain coloured brads is add patterns with Sakura glaze or soufle pens. Hugs lin

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  2. zakkalifeFebruary 16, 2011 at 10:47 AM

    Linda,

    I never heard of Sakura glaze before. I just stopped by your site but couldn't find a picture of it. Do have a link you could share with the rest of us?

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  3. zakkalifeFebruary 16, 2011 at 11:10 AM

    Linda just emailed me this link to a post where she uses the Sakura glaze pens if anyone is curious.

    http://lindysmaidwidluv.blogspot.com/2011/01/dream-of-life.html

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  4. Hopewell Creek DesignsFebruary 16, 2011 at 12:17 PM

    OOooo the gears in my head are really turning now. Must give this some thought! Great idea!!

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  5. KiraFebruary 16, 2011 at 1:42 PM

    Good idea! I've wanted to buy some brads that look like tiny buttons, but have been put off by the price and not bought them because...well...I don't really NEED them...they'd just be cool to have. I never thought of just buying regular ol' brass brads and embellishing them myself!

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  6. Stitching At Stone CottageFebruary 16, 2011 at 3:00 PM

    great idea...would pressed flowers or a leaf work?

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  7. zakkalifeFebruary 16, 2011 at 3:29 PM

    Stitching At Stone Cottage,

    Great idea. Along those lines, how about some acorn caps too?

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  8. CacaFebruary 16, 2011 at 5:57 PM

    OMG, this is just creative and lovely.

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  9. UnknownFebruary 16, 2011 at 6:22 PM

    I L-O-V-E this idea!! You are so creative!

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  10. RudeMermaid February 16, 2011 at 10:26 PM

    What a clever idea, I usually just paint my brads to match my project but I like this much better.
    An idea that came to mind was using small antique keys or old brooch fronts.

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  11. PaulaFebruary 17, 2011 at 12:02 AM

    What a great idea this is, I really like it and am already thinking of projects it could be used on. Thanks for sharing, you always come up with fantastic craft ideas.

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  12. lalyFebruary 17, 2011 at 8:29 AM

    Great great idea!! will hot glue do the job aswell?

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  13. Jenn EricksonFebruary 17, 2011 at 9:27 AM

    Awesome idea! I just picked up a great collection of vintage buttons and was planning to make some custom pushpins. I'll have to add custom brads to the project as well! Thanks!

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  14. zakkalifeFebruary 17, 2011 at 9:34 AM

    IctoRude,

    Love the idea of tiny antique keys!

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  15. AnonymousFebruary 17, 2011 at 9:35 AM

    Cute. Brilliant. And so easy to do. Thanks for sharing your brainstorm. I will be making some myself for cards. Of course I will be looking around to see what items I can glue to the brads.

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  16. Nathaly MartinaFebruary 17, 2011 at 10:00 AM

    I love the idea!!!

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  17. AlexanderFebruary 18, 2011 at 4:05 AM

    Interesting post here! And a fantastic idea.

    Alexander
    Alex's World! - http://www.kakinan.com/alex

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  18. the happy honeybeeFebruary 19, 2011 at 1:42 PM

    Cute idea! Tiny jewelry charms or beads would be cute, too. :)

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  19. AnonymousJanuary 7, 2013 at 3:57 AM

    A good idea I saw once, but I'm sorry I don't remember where. Heat up a brass brad with a heat gun (about 1 minute) then plunge it into some embossing powder. Then give it little heat up again. Works brilliantly. In the UK brass paper fasteners are so cheap they are practically free! This is a great way to make coloured brads, limited only by what colour embossing powders you have.

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